LIUNA Local 183 and GTA home builders/EIFS contractors square off in labour dispute, stalling masonry construction

Ontario Construction News staff writer

A labour dispute related to union jurisdictional issues in Greater Toronto Area (GTA) residential masonry and stucco/Exterior Insulation and Finish Systems (EIFS) construction is disrupting the home building industry, says the Residential Construction Council of Ontario (RESCON).

RESCON asserts that Local 183 of the Labourers International Union of North America (LiUNA) and the Masonry Contractors’ Association of Toronto (MCAT) are preventing EIFS/stucco workers not allied with LIUNA from working for builders by withdrawing their services despite a March 4 Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) ruling.

The stucco/EIFS contractors’ workers are represented by a rival trade union, Local 1891 of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT).

Michael DeGasperis, President and CEO of Arista Homes Ltd. in Concord, north of Toronto, told the Financial Post on Monday that home builders accept that stucco workers need to be members of a union.

But LIUNA workers are more expensive than the IUPAT members. “It doesn’t look like it’s going to be resolved anytime soon,” DeGasperis said. “This is an ongoing thing and it’s just starting to heat up.”

An estimated 4,000 GTA-area homes under construction are currently tied up in the dispute.

DeGasparis told The Financial Post that he anticipates the requirement for union workers could add $5,000 to $20,000 to the cost of a house depending on the job size and the union. Using Local 1891 might cost 10 per cent more than non-union workers while Local 183 could cost as much as 50 per cent more, he said.

In a posting on its website, LIUNA local 183 says the labour board dismissed an application it had engaged in an unlawful strike by the RESCON-associated Toronto Residential Construction Labour Bureau (TRCLB), the accredited employer bargaining agency for low rise residential builders.

See the OLRB ruling

However, in an unusual ruling signed by Bernard Fishbein, the ORLB said LIUNA threatened an unlawful strike and ordered the union to post the following orders and declarations on its website:

In his decision, Fishbein wrote that he declares “that Labourers International Union North America, Local 183, the Masonry Council of Unions Toronto and Vicinity and Bricklayers, Masons Independent Union of Canada, Local 1 (hereinafter collectively “the Union”) has threatened an unlawful strike or committed acts the reasonable and probable consequence of which is others will engage in an unlawful strike contrary to sections 81 and 83 of the Labour Relations Act, 1995 (“the Act”) and, in particular, those employees (“the bricklayers”) covered by the collective agreement between the Union and the Masonry Contractors Association of Toronto (“MCAT”);

(b) declare that the Union has violated section 87(2) of the Act in that it sought to impose a penalty, and, in particular on Sorbara Homes, for participating in a proceeding under the Act, and, in particular, this unlawful strike application;

(c) order that the Union cease and desist from threatening or committing acts the reasonable and probable consequence of which are that others, in particular the bricklayers covered by the Union’s collective agreement with MCAT, will engage in an unlawful strike. This does not prevent the Union from filing any grievances pursuant to its collective agreement with MCAT or advising of its intention to actually do so;

(d) order that the Union cease and desist from penalizing or seeking to penalize anyone because they participated in the unlawful strike application;

(e) post a copy of these declarations and orders on all relevant notice boards (or equivalent locations) at its offices where this might come to the attention of the bricklayers, on its website, and provide copies on the Union’s letterhead to the Toronto Residential Construction Labour Bureau (“the Bureau”) and MCAT; and

(f) provide copies of these declarations and orders on its letterhead to all members of MCAT and the Bureau as well as all those bound to the Union’s collective agreements with the Bureau and MCAT, or (at the option of the Union) place a notice of appropriate size containing these declarations and the orders in the next two consecutive editions of the Daily Commercial News within 10 days of the date of this decision.

In a separate post on the LIUNA Local 183 website, the union said that:

1. The OLRB found that the union had not engaged in an unlawful strike;
2. The board did not require any masonry contractor to change its assignment of its crews in any way;
3. The board did not make any declarations respecting Letter of Understanding No. 8 of the MCAT agreement;
4. The board did not restrict the union from seeking enforcement of Letter of Understanding No. 8 by way of grievance or otherwise;
5. The board dismissed the bureau’s application against MCAT; and
6. The board dismissed the complaint of a stucco labour broker Ras-Con against the union.

“Accordingly, no masonry contractor, and no worker under the MCUTV Agreement, is required to do anything as a result of this decision,”the LIUNA statement said.

In Monday’s statement, RESCON president Richard Lyall said the work disruptions are continuing despite the OLRB order.

“This is happening at a time when the industry has been declared an essential service by government and we are struggling to keep pace with the demand for new housing in the face of COVID-19-related challenges,” he said. “As a result of the union’s illegal actions, thousands of homes will not be completed on time.”

RESCON asserts that builders have no obligation to use a Local 183 stucco contractor to complete their houses.

“Local 183 continues to disrupt the industry and not allow bricklaying contractors to perform work for builders if there is a non-Local 183 contractor on site.” RESCON said in its statement. “The union’s actions have forced delays in housing completions, preventing workers from earning a living. Delayed home closings are causing hardship for homebuyers. They need their new home as shelter for their families.”

“The actions of Local 183 are very disturbing and selfish, given the negative impact on homebuyers and workers within the residential construction industry,” says Ron Johnson, executive director of the Interior Systems Contractors Association (ISCA). “Local 183’s continued actions contravene the OLRB’s order and continue to negatively affect homebuyers.”

Gary Campacci, president and one of the owners of Woodbridge-based DuROCK Alfacing International Ltd., which manufactures exterior insulation finish systems (EIFS), says the union has stopped work for EIFS and masonry contractors despite the ruling.

“This has resulted in essential workers not being able to go to work to support their families,” he says. “After months of litigation, there are many builders still not able to complete their homes, resulting in closing delays.” All this, even though the labour board has already ruled the union’s activities are illegal, RESCON says in its statement.

“Contractors continue to build much-needed housing during this pandemic, but Local 183 is now throwing a wrench into the works,” said Arista Homes’ DeGasperis. “The actions by Local 183 are shameful acts of unlawful intimidation and interference without apparent regard to the thousands of new home buyers affected by late closings.”

LIUNA Local 183 is the largest construction union local in North America, with almost 59,000 members. It is currently building a massive new headquarters in Vaughan.

Ontario Construction News has invited further comments and responses from LIUNA Local 183 representatives.